Honorary Award for MLC ‘Mother’

Nautilus Council members have agreed to award honorary membership of the Union to one of the key architects of the international Maritime Labour Convention, Dr Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry.

General secretary Mark Dickinson told Council members that Dr Doumbia-Henry – who is the director of the labour standards department of the UN agency the International Labour Office – is known as the ‘mother of the MLC’. ‘It is without doubt that without her leadership and strategic vision, the MLC would not have seen the light of day,’ he added. ‘From the very start, she saw the value of establishing a level playing field and appreciated the significance of shipowner support for the idea of a global bill of rights for the world’s seafarers.’

Mr Dickinson pointed out that honorary membership of the Union is granted only rarely – 11 times since 1960 – and Dr Doumbia-Henry was an extremely worthy winner.

A qualified barrister, Dr Doumbia-Henry began her career at the University of the West Indies, Barbados, as a lecturer in law. She worked with the Iran-US Claims Tribunal in the Netherlands and then joined the ILO in 1986, where she has served both as a senior lawyer and in other management positions.

As the third anniversary of the entry into force of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) approaches, Seafarers’ Rights International (SRI) is embarking on a comprehensive study on the effectiveness of the Convention. The study has been commissioned by the International Transport Workers’ Federation. It will be an in-depth and... Read more →